Wilhelm Traeger was born in Vienna in 1907. He had close links with Expressionism. His linocut series, Vienna 1932, is a nightmarish portrait of the city at twilight with a strong undercurrent of social criticism. Disappointed, he quit Vienna. He lived more than half his life in Ried and taught art at the high school. 

Traeger's 1976 Way of the Cross expressively processes his experiences in the war. Wilhelm Traeger died in 1980.